 Sainsbury's planning move to Arborfield Green
A new branch of Sainsbury's is set to open at the proposed district centre in Arborfield Green in the major new community at the former Arborfield Garrison.
The retailer has confirmed its intention to open a "neighbourhood hub" store, a larger version of its convenience stores. It would include a “click and collect” service to offer a wider choice and would create about 40 jobs.
The store would form part of the district centre off Nine Mile Ride Extension, which we've awarded outline planning permission and are now awaiting a more detailed submission from developer Crest Nicholson.
The development is required to include this, which we imposed to ensure residents are served by high-quality infrastructure alongside new housing which the Government requires us to take.
We welcome Sainsbury's news as it shows the financial uncertainty caused by coronavirus and Brexit, which is why the district centre has been delayed, is improving. Further details will come through a separate planning application.
 Revised plans go on display for feedback
On Thursday last week (8 December), Crest exhibited revised plans for the district centre and is now seeking people's feedback before submitting a planning application to us, hopefully early in the new year.
The scheme includes a supermarket and smaller shops, a square, community centre, pub and green space with paths and allotments, but has changed slightly since an exhibition by Crest in April. Following talks with our planners, a different layout with new pedestrianised areas is proposed.
The complex will be built north and west of the Bohunt School and Arborfield Green Leisure Centre, offering improved access to the latter, and will include a refurbishment of the nearby Infirmary Stables with a possible community use.
The development must also include improvements to neighbouring sports facilities, which will come forward through a separate application in the near future.
Take a look and have your say
If you weren't able to attend Crest's event, you can look at the revised plans on the developer's website. Please send your comments as soon as possible.
 Working to serve you as soon as possible
We know there's been frustration at how long this has taken, so we've met Crest to discuss these delays and will be pressing them to move as quickly as possible.
This project fell behind schedule, in part, due to reasons beyond the developer's control. The coronavirus pandemic made retailers reluctant to open stores so it was very hard to attract interest from supermarkets.
Without an "anchor" tenant to attract others, which was also partly down to Brexit, the scheme was unviable for a while. Government guidelines require us to be fair so we didn't take any further action.
However, as time moves on and the national situation improves, we'll stay in touch with Crest to ensure there are no unnecessary delays.
Keeping future growth at the right level
Looking ahead, we're lobbying the Government to secure fairer housing targets for the borough and are pleased to have recently secured an audience to discuss this with housing minister Lucy Frazer MP.
We believe the current system imposes too high a figure, which risks swamping us with excessive development, and that reforms would benefit the entire country by allocating homes to areas that need them most.
Meanwhile, we've given permission for a branch of Lidl in Shinfield - and there's also a major update on the progress of the Shinfield Studios project, with aerial video. Find out more in our latest edition of Infrastructure News.
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